Lesly Manzanarez grew up in Honduras - and like his older brother, he was flashing gang signs and fighting from the time he was a kid. He took that fighting spirit with him when his family moved to New York City. This summer, Lesly had a chance to turn things around. He spent six weeks in a poor village in Nicaragua, as a part of a project called Global Potential. As he tells Dick Gordon, Lesly thinks he's changed for good.Also: Estevan Arrellano is a farmer from New Mexico. Water is a precious resource there, and it reaches Estevan’s farm by one of the many ancient irrigation ditches still in use today called acequias.

Nnimmo Bassey runs a Nigerian NGO that works to hold oil companies accountable for the oil they spill. He talks with Dick Gordon about how he was drawn into working on behalf of people in the Niger Delta and what keeps him going, despite the danger and hopelessness he’s faced over the years. Also in this show, remembering Senator Robert Byrd.

In downtown Providence, R.I., a massive shopping mall dominates the skyline. Some residents like Michael Townsend have been grumbling since the mall was first built in 1999. In 2003, Michael and a few friends decided to challenge their own critical perspective on the mall with an experiment - for one week, they vowed to never leave the mall. They would eat, bathe, and find a place to sleep there. The experiment ended up lasting 4 years. Also in this episode: Ashley Menger decided to carry all her non-recyclable trash with her at all times for a period of two weeks, just to see how much there was.

Countless towns across the U.S. have lost textile and apparel jobs as plants close or move overseas. But Megan Summerville is making it work here in the U.S. When Megan was working as an alterations specialist at a bra shop, she learned that one of the shop's suppliers, Specialty Made, was closing. Megan seized the opportunity and bought the company. Megan now makes bras, and much more, out of her factory in Austin, Texas. Also on the show: the bat that became a pet. And, our guest host tried to be a rock star even though all he ever played was the clarinet.